People who smoke while queuing for public transport or to enter a number of premises could be fined from as early as January 1, the government said on Friday.

Under a bill which will be tabled to the Legislative Council for a first reading next week, officials have proposed that offenders be slapped with a fixed-penalty fine if they smoke when there is a queue of two or more people, including the smoker.

That fine would be set at HK$3,000 – double the current penalty – with the premises including public places like cinemas, sports grounds, theme parks, hospitals and clinics.

However, officials stressed that smoking at bus stops with clear markings on the ground, fences or structural indicators remains strictly prohibited, even if the smoker is alone in the queue.

Officials also want to expand non-smoking areas near a number of facilities.

This would see such areas extended to three metres from the doorways of places like hospitals and government clinics, care homes and childcare centres.

They added managers of these facilities would be encouraged to display "no-smoking within three-metre area" signs.